Bombay Durpun - 'Nightmare': Russian attacks kill 21 across Ukraine

Authorities in the Ukrainian capital had warned that Russia was preparing the latest in a string of massive deadly strikes that have escalated the four-year-old war and dimmed the slim hopes for peace.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones, adding that 54 drones and 33 missiles had penetrated its multi-layered air defence system.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard air raid sirens wailing over the city before a series of loud explosions that lasted through Monday night sent residents with bags and blankets rushing to shelter in crowded metro stations.

Anastasia, whose residential building was damaged in the attack, said she spent a "loud" and "terrifying" night huddled in her bathroom.

- 'Nightmare' -

"All the windows were blown out completely; there are no windows at all. It wasn't just one explosion here all night. The night here was just a nightmare," she told AFP.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the attack was a sign of Russian desperation, that President Vladimir Putin was bombing civilians since his forces were struggling on the battlefield.

"Putin is a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror. Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this," Sybiga said in a social media statement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky used the attack to make a new appeal for US military support.

"Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defence so that this war can finally be brought to an end. And assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary," Zelensky wrote on social media.

The French foreign ministry in response denounced Moscow's "utter contempt" for peace efforts while the United Nations said Moscow's "inflammatory rhetoric and escalation of attacks should stop".

Moscow has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022, a war that is now the bloodiest on European soil since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced.

Russia said that it had carried out a huge strike, including with hypersonic missiles, targeting Ukraine's military-industrial complex.

It denies that its forces target civilians.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said six people were killed and at least 66 were wounded in the city. The metro service said more than 40,000 residents had sheltered in various stations throughout evening -- the highest number in years.

In the industrial city of Dnipro farther south, 15 people were killed including two children, when a four-storey apartment building collapsed, officials announced.

A maternity hospital with newborns and women in labour was struck in the southern port city of Odesa, authorities said, adding there were no casualties.

AFP journalists saw explosions and huge plumes of smoke billowing across Kyiv's skyline at dawn, while rescue workers cleared debris beneath residential buildings gutted in the attack.

More than 100,000 Kyiv residents temporarily lost electricity, the largest private supplier DTEK announced, while the state grid operator reported cuts in Kyiv and several other regions.

Fifteen people, including a child, were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv that lies near the Russian border, according to the mayor, Igor Terekhov.

- 'Protect your lives' -

The intense strikes have dulled already distant peace prospects, particularly with the White House distracted by fighting with Iran.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told reporters in the Estonian capital of Tallinn that Kyiv was still hoping for a long-waited visit from US envoys to her country to restart negotiations.

Ukraine also struck targets in Russia.

One person was killed in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

And a drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the southwestern city of Krasnodar, its headquarters said on Telegram.

Moscow's warning to foreigners, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv had sparked an outcry including at the United Nations.

Zelensky has reiterated calls to allies to allow and finance the supply of Patriot missiles, which can intercept Russian ballistic missiles.

He wrote to US President Donald Trump and the US Congress last week asking for Patriot systems to respond to the intensifying Russian air attacks.

Despite the uptick in Russian long-range strikes, Moscow's forces have been struggling to make meaningful gains across the front line.

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H.Majumdar--BD